Annalisa Capurro is an interior designer and a design educator at the prestigious Design Centre Enmore in Sydney, Australia. She is also an architectural/design historian, architectural photographer, writer and speaker with more than 25 years experience working in the sectors of commercial, residential, hospitality, textile, furniture and design education in Australia and abroad.

Annalisa has recently taken up an advisory position on the board of the Vancouver-based Print The Future, strongly believing that 3D printing technology and additive manufacturing have the potential to revolutionize the design industry.

Annalisa, what was your very first experience with 3D Printing?

My first experiences with 3D printing have been primarily in university design labs in various educational institutions in both Sydney and abroad. Whilst presenting lectures at universities such as SCAD in Savannah, Georgia, and NYIT in New York, I was exposed to the innovative applications and potential of this technology to various aspects of the design industry.

Could you explain furthermore what Print The Future is and the services that you are providing?

Print The Future is the world’s leading omnichannel brand experience that enables anyone to 3D-print ideas on demand inside the stores. You can walk in with an idea and have it in your hands within days or mere hours! With 200 stores planned worldwide, Print The Future is disrupting the traditional manufacturing process by empowering a global community to independently design and locally manufacture in each store location.

What are your main inspirations?

As a designer with an expertise in midcentury modern architecture, I find this era a constant source of inspiration in all aspects of my work including my photography. The joy and optimism of this style along with the simple, pared back and strong geometric design elements are timeless and therefore translate well to contemporary design problems. It was a style born out of austerity and thus has many lessons to teach us today in creating a more sustainable future.

I am excited about the prospect of designing a 3D printed range of furniture and objects inspired by this era for Print The Future.

A strong influence is the Danish architect Jørn Utzon, designer of the Sydney Opera House. He derived a theory called ‘additive architecture’ which I am currently researching for its relationship to additive manufacturing. Watch this space….

Details of Sydney Opera House Credit Annalisa Capurro

Sydney Opera House Credit Annalisa Capurro

Do you have any (fun or not) story about the company or your career to share with us?

One of my most special memories was discussing the future of design over a delicious lunch of straight-off-the-boat bright orange Alaskan Salmon during my first trip to the beautiful city of Vancouver, Canada, with the inspirational Neil Patel, CEO and founder of Print The Future. Looking forward to many more….

Have you run into any challenges from being a woman designer in 3D Printing?

As my background is in interior design, in which women have been rocking it since its inception as a profession, no. I am excited about the possibilities 3D printing could open up to a greater number of women in areas such as industrial, product, lighting and furniture design which have previously been more male-dominated.

Anything exciting coming up you’d like us to know about?

Stay tuned for when we announce our next store, you can vote for your city here. We are also going to be opening up a Lab in Vancouver that will have activities such as 3D-printing youth boot camps

Anyone can be a part of this world-changing technology by investing. See https://printthefuture.today/invest for investment opportunities.

What is the most impressive or impactful use of 3D printing you’ve seen so far?

I was incredibly excited to read about the first 3D printed building! This opens up possibilities for making housing more accessible in disaster relief areas, third world countries and social housing programs throughout the world etc…

What do you consider game-changing technologies in additive manufacturing?

For me what is game changing is Print The Future bringing additive manufacturing directly to the public through our 200 planned worldwide stores thus empowering a global community to design independently and manufacture locally.

What makes the 3D printing industry particularly interesting for you as a designer? as a woman?

The 3D printing industry is particularly interesting to me as a designer as it has the potential to revolutionize the architecture/design industry and disrupt traditional manufacturing by creating a more sustainable, accessible and equitable future for all of us.

Credit Annalisa Capurro

Credit Annalisa Capurro

How do you see architecture/design and 3D printing in 10 years?

I am incredibly excited by the future impact of 3D printing in the fields of architecture and design especially in relation to creating a more sustainable world as mentioned previously. Though the technology has been around in some form or other for decades, it is only recently that it has started to impact architecture and design. At this point with the innovations we are seeing in both technology and materiality the possibilities are endless and the future looks very bright…

In your opinion, how could we encourage more women to become involved with 3D Printing?

We inspire them! The nature of 3D printing is such that it has wide-ranging possibilities for empowering local designers as well as fostering global collaborations. This leaves much room for women everywhere to find their niche. Blogs such as this go a long way to sharing women’s stories that ultimately inspire others.

Thank you for reading and for sharing!

We invite you to join Women in 3D Printing on LinkedIn and to like our Facebook page for further discussion.